The suitors were gone, and Telemakhos and I hid the armor in the basement, with the help of Athena, so that the suitors couldn't get to them. I was then called into Penelope's chamber, and as she came down the stairs, she looked like Artemis and Aphrodite. She asked who I was, but so as to not give my identity away, I switched topics to her own roots and troubles. She told me about the suitors and how she wouldn't marry them even if Odysseus never comes home because she could never marry anyone other than him. But she still pressed for my identity, so I made up a quick story about how I had travelled around the world a lot, and while on my travels I had met Odysseus, and I had also found that he was already on his way home and carrying many treasures (which was true for the most part). She wished it was true, as I'd heard her say many a time since I've been home, but she also hoped that I wasn't lying. To prove I wasn't lying, she asked to to tell her what Odysseus was wearing, and I told her exactly what I put on the day I left for Troy, and this truth made her cry more, and the pain of longing for Odysseus got worse. She asked if I wanted a bed to sleep in tonight and a good bath with new clother, but I replied that I've slept on hard ground for the past years of my life, and I would carry on doing so, but a nice bath would be appreciated, but only by one of her oldest and wisest hand maids. She called Eurykleia, the very person who had nursed me since my birth, and when she saw me, she swore I was Odysseus. But I was ready for this and told her that I'd been told her this many times before, and she bathed my feet. I forgot about a scar I got when I was a kid, and when she saw it, she tried to show Penelope that it was me, Odysseus, but Athena made her not care. I grabbed Eurykleia and made her swear not to tell anyone, and she did. And before Penelope went to bed, she asked me about a dream she had had in which an eagle came down and killed 20 fat geese, and as it left, it told Penelope to be glad because the geese were the suitors and the eagle was Odysseus. I told her that this wasn't just a dream, and it would come true because it was a sign from the gods. With that, Penelope went to bed and cryed until Athena showered sweet sleep upon her eyes...
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